Kathmandu, October 31:

Close on the heels of hike in the prices of petroleum products,the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management is making preparations to increase transport fares.

“We will take a decision once the Fare Adjustment Committee (FAC) submits its recommendations to us. We will make a decision to increase the fares on Thursday or Friday,” Uddwab Baskota, spokesperson for the MoLTM, said today.

General secretary of the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs Krishna Adhikary said the FAC led by Director-General (DG) of the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has recommended increasing the fares in line with the hike in the prices of petroleum products. According to him, the fare of diesel-operated vehicles will go up by six per cent, petrol-run vehicles by nine per cent and gas-run vehicles by 35 per cent. The vehicles running on Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) had not increased the fare even when the price of LPG was increased by Rs 100 (to Rs 800) earlier. Their fare has been adjusted this time.

DG of the DoTM Khagendra Mani Pokhrel said the meet of the FAC held yesterday has decided to form a panel to conduct a study on the adjustment of transportation fares by analysing all aspects of public transport, including lubricants and spare parts. The DoTM officer-led panel will submit its report after one month and the fare will be determined on the basis of recommendation made in the report. Adhikary said the government should adjust the fares at the earliest to control the practice of collecting fares in a haphazard manner.